Roll out 'See Something, Say Something’ campaign in Kilkenny, TD says

Carlow-Kilkenny Fine Gael TD Catherine Callaghan has said that the 'See Something, Say Something' initiative, a free-to-use confidential text line to report antisocial behaviour to an Garda Siochána, must be rolled out across Carlow and Kilkenny.

To date, there have been a number of successful rollouts of the programme, in counties such as Longford, Louth and Kerry, with residents warmly welcoming the initiative.

Coupled with this, the programme for government makes a commitment to roll out the campaign nationally as a confidential text and messaging system and to continue to support community alert groups.
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“See Something, Say Something is a really good initiative. The national roll-out of it is committed to in the programme for Government. It is a community initiative which enables the public to text details of illegal dumping, antisocial behaviour and
other incidents directly to the authorities," he said.

“According to the Meath experience of the initiative, it seems the local community safety partnerships are seen as the best way to roll out the initiative at present.

“The LCSPs in Carlow and Kilkenny should be coming online at the end of the month and I wonder whether the Minister would support a call to see this initiative being made an early priority for all local community safety partnerships.

“While I commend the Minister's ambition in expanding community policing across the country it is important to note there is still a real need for more community gardaí in our rural towns and villages who are as visible and contactable as possible, as far as the people they serve are concerned.

“Of the most recent graduate class from Templemore, only one has been stationed in Carlow, with zero new graduates coming to Kilkenny. That said, I accept there is another class graduating from Templemore next week and Garda numbers are being built up across the country and it is important to acknowledge that.

“Many people in Carlow and Kilkenny will recall a time where practically every village had a local garda. We know that time has passed, but using a service such as this we can re-establish the presence of An Garda Síochána in the day-to-day rhythms of rural life in Ireland.

“Even if people never use this service, knowing it is there provides significant comfort, security agus síocháin to our citizens.

Following Deputy Callaghan’s remarks, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Migration Jim O’Callaghan TD has committed to raising 'See Something, Say Something' with the Garda Commissioner.